Helios
"Behold the glory of Helios!" - Helios In Greek Mythology In Greek mythology, the sun was personified as Helios. Helios was the All-Seeing god of the sun and was called upon witness when needed by the gods. As a son of the Titans Hyperion and Theia, and brother of the goddesses Selene, the moon, and Eos, the dawn. The names of these three were also the common Greek words for sun, moon and dawn. Helios was imagined as a handsome god crowned with the shining aureole of the sun, who drove the Sun Chariot across the sky each day to earth-circling Oceanus and through the world-ocean returned to the East at night. Homer described Helios's chariot as drawn by his Fire Steeds. Still later, the horses were given fiery names: Pyrois, Aeos, Aethon, and Phlegon. As time passed, Helios was increasingly identified with the god of light, Apollo, but the two remained separate beings. The equivalent of Helios in Roman mythology was Sol. In the God of War Series God of War: Chains of Olympus Helios was kidnapped by Atlas by orders of Persephone, who felt betrayed by the gods for being forced to stay with Hades six months out of every year, His disappearance allowed Morpheus, the god of dreams, to take over the mortal realm and cast the gods into a deep slumber. Helios was taken to the Underworld, where Atlas used his power to destroy the Pillar of the World-and with it, the rest of the planet. Before this plan could be fully achieved, the Sun God was saved by Kratos, who defeated Persephone and chained Atlas to the world in the Pillar's place. During the battle with Persephone, Helios was held in Atlas' hand, forming of an orb of light. The ray of sunlight he radiated was used by Kratos to weaken Persephone. After his final battle, an unconscious Kratos was stripped of his items by Helios and Athena. Helios, grateful for Kratos' rescuing him, and showing pity for his sacrifices, suggests helping him further, only for Athena to disagree, claiming that "He'll live. They must." God of War II In Atlas' flashback of the Great War, Helios can be seen fighting alongside Hermes with the Titans. Also two Helios statues can be found in God of War II. The first is the great Colossus of Rhodes, which Kratos fights and destroys after it is animated by Zeus. The second is found in the Garden of the Gods, as Kratos travels through the Palace of the Fates. It is accompanied by five other god statues; Ares, Athena, Zeus, Poseidon and Hades. Helios briefly appears at the end, at the council of the gods on Olympus, along with Hermes, Hades, Poseidon and Zeus. He is one of the first witnesses of the rescued Titans ascending Mount Olympus, led by Gaia and a vengeful Kratos. God of War III "The Titans will fail again!" -Helios The gods quickly took action to defeat the Titans once again. Helios jumped onto his Sun Chariot and began attacking Gaia, throwing a fireball to prevent Kratos from escaping the undead soldiers that swarmed the Titan's shoulder. Afterwards, Helios was also seen battling the Titan of Destruction, Perses, and successfully dislodging him from the mountain. Helios again confronted Perses on the slopes of Olympia, holding an advantage over the Titan because of the blinding light he emitted. He occasionally aided the minions of Olympus fighting Kratos, throwing fireballs into the area. After having fought his way through the hordes, Kratos used a ballista to damage Helios' Sun Chariot, causing him to fly straight into Perses' hand. The Titan then crushed his Chariot, and threw Helios far into the city. Kratos continued to hunt Helios down and eventually found him, injured and unable to lift himself off the ground. A batallion of Undead Legionnaires desperately attemped to protect their god, forming a circular phalanx around him. Using a Cyclops to break through the ranks, Kratos crushed the phalanx, after which he killed the Cyclops by brutally ripping out its eye. Helios, pleading for his life, reminded Kratos of the debt he owed the mortal for saving him years ago, and promised to repay Kratos if his life was to be spared. Kratos immediately demanded the location of The Flames of Olympus. Helios stated he would never reach it, subsequently unleashing the power of the sun, in an attempt to blind Kratos. Kratos however, was able to block the light with his hands and slowly advance toward him and smash Helios' head repeatedly under his boot. Helios then said Kratos would have to embrace the Flames of Olympus to defeat Zeus, only to have Kratos angrily reveal Hephaestus had already told him about the flame and how it was both harmful to gods and mortals. Helios expressed shock at Kratos trusting the words of Hephaestus, labelling the smith as an exiled freak who had fallen from the graces of Olympus. Kratos then declared that was exactly why he believed Hephaestus in the first place. Failing to convince Kratos, and with a final gaze at the Spartan, Helios told Kratos his death would not lead him to Zeus, only for Kratos to reply that he was wrong. The Spartan then grabbed his head, and delivered a smashing blow to the back of the god's neck. Leaning back with all his might, Kratos then brutally ripped the god's head off, using it to detect secrets and blind enemies. After Helios' death, the world fell prey to darkness, as the sun disappeared, a torrent of endless rain poured down, and thunderstorms and tornadoes ravaged the land. Powers and Abilities "Feel The Wrath Of The Sun!" - Helios As the God of the Sun, Helios has many powers that revolve around the element Fire and Light. Helios is able to control fire, bending it to his will. Examples include; *Helios launching fireballs on Gaia, and at Perses and Kratos. *His Steeds and his Chariot being covered in flames. *Unleashing a powerful beam that could blind enemies, and brighten up even the darkest of places. *The Sun Shield, which he can use to deflect projectiles thrown at him. *As an Olympian, common godlike powers, including Immortality, Shapeshifting, Teleportation, Invincibility, and Super Strength. Trivia *He is voiced by Crispin Freeman in God of War III and Dwight Schultz in God of War: Chains of Olympus. *In God of War: Chains of Olympus, Helios' abduction led to the disappearance of the Sun from the sky. In God of War III, Kratos kills Helios by ripping his head off, causing the sun to disappear and rain to fall constantly. *Right in front of Helios, while he's wounded on the rooftop after being crushed and thrown by Perses, you can notice the very Sun Shield Kratos used in God of War: Chains of Olympus. * Helios was likely infected with Cowardice, as he never faces his opponents directly and he is the only god who attempts to dissuade Kratos from killing him. *Even though appearing in very few mythology stories, he was still regarded as the sun god, even having the Colossus of Rhodes built in his image, on the island of Rhodes, where he was worshipped and said to be born. *Helios and his sisters are cousins of Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Demeter, Hera, and Hestia, since both Hyperion and Cronos were brothers. *Being all-seeing, Helios witnessed the kidnapping of Persephone by Hades, and told her mother Demeter. He also witnessed the affair between Ares and Aphrodite, and told Hephaestus of what was happening. Gallery Colossus 2.jpg|Colossus of Rhodes concept art. 6a00d83505e2d853ef00e54f2638ad8834-500wi.jpg|The Chariot of Helios. Helios_MTOlympus.PNG|Helios watching the Titan's onslaught with his fellow Olympians. Untitled 13.png|Helios awaits his chariot in battle. File:Lavatitan2--screenshot_viewer_medium.jpg|Helios flying his chariot to fight against Perses. File:Helios1--screenshot_viewer_medium.jpg|A wounded Helios with the Sun Shield. HeliosGuards.JPG|Legionnaires, protecting Helios with Onyx Shields gow4.jpg|Legionnaires, protecting Helios by use of a circular sphalanx HeliosBeam.JPG|Helios blinding Kratos with his Helios' Beam overlooking helios.jpg|Helios seconds before his death. Helios4--screenshot viewer medium.jpg|Kratos trying to brutally rip off Helios' head Neckrip1--screenshot viewer medium.jpg|Helios about to be killed. Kratos killing Helios.jpg|Kratos pulling Helios' neck God-of-War-III-final5.jpg|Helios' head. Gow3big 1135.jpg|The Sun Shield. File:Helio's head.jpg|Kratos blinding his enemies with the Head of Helios. 500x_helios_head_rip.jpg|Helios head rip concept art. Related Pages *Titans *Chariot of Helios *Temple of Helios *Colossus of Rhodes *Head of Helios *Fire Steeds (Boreas, Eurus, Notus, Zephyrus) Category:Characters Category:Gods Category:God of War:Chains of Olympus Category:God of War II Category:God of War III